NEW HAVEN, Mo. - The project of adding a four-classroom wing to the high school has been placed on hold indefinitely after the New Haven School Board voted to reject all bids for construction of the new wing.

However, the board did approve a lease purchase of $500,000 and accepted a bid for HVAC of the middle school wings and all but the oldest wing of the high school. (Completion date is set for August 1.)

“The sole reason for putting the new addition on hold was because the Missouri Legislator overrode Gov. Nixon’s veto of Senate Bill 509. They’re saying that starting in 2017 school funding could be stagnant or even decline”, said New Haven Superintendent Kyle Kruse. “The potential effect SB 509 will likely have on state school funding would make it difficult for the district to make payments on the backend of the lease purchase for construction of the new wing.”

Because the initial request for bids of HVAC did not include the older high school wing (which is illustrated on the right) the board requested that KRJ Architect Firm provide an estimate at June’s meeting for installation of HVAC to the “old high school wing”.

Kruse added, “While it was a tough decision by the School Board to hold off on the new addition, they also felt it was important to taxpayers they remain fiscally responsible and not put the district’s finances at risk.”

The installation of HVAC (this is assuming the district will be able to retrofit the “old high school” wing as well) would add AC to all classrooms in both the middle school and high school including the cafeteria and replace the current heating system with exception to the high school gym.

A new HVAC plan that was approved by the board during May’s meeting calls for installation of Bard units (brand name) that are mounted to the exterior structure outside each classroom, which Kruse pointed out that if HVAC is installed in the “old high school” for example, those units could be used in any future projects.

Click here to read our article about SB 509 and what both sides are saying.